Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and others) [July 23, 2021]

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series, also available on YouTube here: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa Questions include: Is programming essential for the next breakthrough in neuroscience, both theoretical and practical? if yes, how, and is Wolfram language enough fulfill that purpose? - Any opinions on 'smart drugs'? - Is the Crick-Mitchison theory of REM sleep essential for understanding how mammalian brains work? - Can you comment on the history of plant breeding and computation? Or agricultural as a technology? It seems that old plant breeders think new molecular breeding techniques are a waste of time & money. 'Modern' breeders are using genomic selection with SNPs and gBLUP models... the history of most of our crops is very complicated usually involving strange hybrids. - Will the future bring surveillance and all-knowing government or deep fakes and other things that could be used to fake identity both physical and digital in order to get rid of government presence?

Om Podcasten

Stephen Wolfram is the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha and the Wolfram Language; the author of A New Kind of Science; and the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. Over the course of nearly four decades, he has been a pioneer in the development and application of computational thinking—and has been responsible for many discoveries, inventions and innovations in science, technology and business. On his podcast, Stephen discusses topics ranging from the history of science to the future of civilization and ethics of AI.